This working mum had the BEST response when she was told to leave a TED event

TEDWomen recently came under fire after an author and mum took to Twitter when she was asked to leave the California event because she had her five-month-old baby with her. Featuring tons of inspiring talks on career and life, the annual TEDWomen conference is all about empowering women, and celebrating the accomplishments of females worldwide. However, with a longstanding policy that says children aren't allowed at the events, it seems the organisation is still figuring out how best to facilitate parents. Jessica Jackley, author of 'Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration from Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least', was asked to leave the conference last week when she arrived with her son, whom she is breastfeeding. Fortunately, her response to the situation helped result in a positive outcome for other working parents.

Confused. #TEDWomen2015 “about the power of women and girls.” But working moms? Was just asked to leave bc my nursing 5mo old infant is w me

— jessicajackley (@jessicajackley) May 28, 2015

In a post on Medium the mum says that while she felt embarrassed and disappointed about being asked to leave, staff were polite when they explained the policy. She even went on to see the argument from their side. "One obvious reason is that children, and especially infants, can be a disruption at a carefully choreographed, professionally recorded event like TED. We can all agree that certain immersive events ought to be protected from possible interruptions, no matter whether those interruptions are from devices or descendants. Goodness knows I would never ask to be the parent sitting in the front row of the audience for someone’s TED talk — a truly remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime, “bucket list” sort of experience for many speakers, myself included — even with my preternaturally calm infant. Just thinking about it makes me nervous." But she also added that nobody is asking to take their children into the main auditorium. It's just about making sure that parents are accommodated at the event. After Jessica took to Twitter about being asked to leave, June Cohen, the executive producer behind TED Media, personally apologised to the mum and invited her back, saying that the policy needs to be revisited. Although it was too late for Jessica who was already on her way back home with her baby, the organisation quickly set up a simulcast lounge intended for parents with young children. A blog post published by TED staff also confirmed that it plans to revisit its no-children policy to find "a solution for parents with infants and small children, while preserving the conference experience for all".  Talk about a quick turnaround.

Wow! In the time it took to fly home the amazing @junecohen @TEDWomen team already set up lounge for moms, babies. Setting a great example. — jessicajackley (@jessicajackley) May 29, 2015